


Love Theory

by tokeiimi



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:27:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27590669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tokeiimi/pseuds/tokeiimi
Summary: They said, a person is bound to experience three types of love in their life. These three types are: Juvenile Love, First True Love, and Forever Love.Has he met them all?
Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei
Comments: 4
Kudos: 69





	Love Theory

Kuroo Tetsurou, as seen by his colleagues, is an ambitious and competitive man on the field. However, behind this image, lies a hopeless romantic who’d always read articles about **love**. 

On one of his searches, they said, a person is bound to experience three types of love in their life. These three types are: Juvenile Love, First True Love, and Forever Love. 

**Juvenile Love.** The idealistic type of love that we always imagine from fairytales. This comes when we are young and we first realize that there are people who have the ability to activate the butterflies hidden in our stomach. Usually this is a type that is sweet, innocent, almost perfect, but also isn’t real. 

**First True Love.** This is also called **Hard Love**. The one that they said would teach you about yourself and your needs in love. This is the one that would be the most painful as this is where you fall hard, hard enough for you to adjust into anything and everything. This is the one where partners just try, and try, and fail but always hang on. The cycle goes on and on until both are consumed and then, the love that they once had just disappears. 

**Forever Love.** This is the kind that we never look for, and we never expect to happen. This is the kind that is honest and easy, just like breathing. The love that just happens, and makes a person whole. The kind that makes everything feel right, despite all the wrong things in this world. 

As Kuroo scrolled down the comments of the article, people were sharing their stories. Most people commented that they have yet to meet the third person to fall in love with. This has made Kuroo think. 

The people discussing were talking about three different people when talking about the different types of love made Kuroo think about his experiences. Has he met them all? 

* * *

**1**

Tsukishima Kei, the person Kuroo met when he was seventeen (17) and still unsure of what he wanted.

Tsukishima then was just fifteen (15), lazy, unmotivated, and easily irritated. On the other hand, what Kuroo saw was someone beautiful, elegant even, and full of potential. 

During the limited time he had with Tsukishima, Kuroo made sure to make a good impression. He isn't sure why but his gut has been giving him weird sensation that he’d never experienced before. 

Kuroo, despite being unfamiliar with the feelings lingering inside of him, approached Tsukishima and made a sloppy but honest confession. To his surprise, the blushing blonde accepted and also confessed about experiencing the same. 

To get to know more about each other, they started their everyday text messages, weekly video calls, and bimonthly dates. Everything looked as perfect as everyone can see on their social media accounts. 

Kuroo went to Miyagi to watch Karasuno’s game against Shiratorizawa. This time he was sure over his “crush”. This time he was over the “puppy love” phase as they describe that it was. He was over the fairytale stage they say where only the good things were shared. He is willing to bare it all now, ready to commit, and ready to freely fall. 

_As long as it’s Tsukishima._

Karasuno won and got their ticket to the Nationals. After the game, he went straight to Tsukishima, asking him **-finally-** to be his boyfriend. The blonde just stood there, looking at the bedhead man. Then, upon realizing the situation, Tsukishima walked towards Kuroo, hugged him tight, and said **“yes”**. 

The couple didn’t really expect anything to change after that. They still went on their routine. However, as the period of the National competition approaches, they had no choice but to lessen their time for each other. 

Both of them knew that it is for the best, for the betterment of both their teams. What they didn’t know is, this became the start.

Start of the **Hard Love.**

* * *

**2**

After the Nationals, both of them expected everything to return to their usual but sadly, it didn’t. 

Kuroo, as a graduating student, had to focus on his requirements both for graduation and entry to universities. 

Tsukishima, as his confidence in his play grew, he also became more dedicated in practicing. He even came to the point where he joined Kageyama and Hinata for extra practice. 

Miyagi and Tokyo were far enough for the two when they started but the distance just seem to grow more as the months pass by. 

When Kuroo started university, he had a talk with Tsukishima to have an adjustment period of at least three months before they can go back and plan their usual routine. Tsukishima understood and agreed. 

However, six months after Kuroo started university, they only met twice. 

Video called a couple of times. 

Sent each other text messages when they remembered… which most of the times they didn’t.

Kuroo never tried to go back and plan their previous routine. As a university student, he was suffering from being lonely in a new place and his insecurities in his academic performance. He’d always compare how good he was when he was in high school and would just keep on telling himself that his efforts weren't good enough. 

He never talked about this with Tsukishima though, afraid to disappoint him because he knew how much Tsukishima looked up to him. 

He was afraid not to be good enough for him too. 

Tsukishima, in Miyagi, never tried to ask Kuroo if there is still something to go back to. As the days, weeks, and months go by, Kuroo has become distant.. too distant.. to the point where Tsukishima felt that he wasn't within his reach anymore. 

He never talked about this with Kuroo though, afraid that there weren't any memories to share anymore. 

He was afraid to lose him too. 

Both have started their own routines, not checking on one another. When both of them would have small breaks from school, the old routine would come back for a while and then, again, the distance would consume them.

This went on for a few more months. Their friends would ask, they’d say they’re just fine but they knew, they were not. 

They did not want to admit, but they knew. 

The end was coming. 

However, they didn’t want to. They tried to ignore the problem, they’d argue over small things but not talk about the bigger issue. 

They’d go on weeks of not speaking to each other and then when they remember, they would talk like nothing happened. They’d try to bring back what was lost but, unfortunately, they could no longer find it anymore. 

Months passed. 

Tsukishima, is about to graduate high school, co-captain of his team, and applicant of several scholarship grants, he could no longer keep up. 

He broke. 

At a rare video call, Tsukishima started, “Can’t you feel it?”

Confused, Kuroo said, “Feel what?”

Tsukishima started fidgeting his fingers, a nervous habit, “Like everything is crumbling.”

This has already made Kuroo nervous. He isn’t ready for this talk yet. “What do you mean?”

Looking frustrated, “I don’t know Tetsu, like I haven’t really felt like I have a boyfriend for quite sometime now?” 

Kuroo didn't know what to say. He felt it too, he knew it was his fault everything started to fall apart. He had denied it for so long, they both denied it for so long. 

He didn't know what to feel first. 

Guilt? 

Frustration?

Sadness? 

Anger? 

The line was silent for a long time. Kuroo didn't know what to do so he thought, he'd been selfish enough to keep this going. He'll give it all to Tsukishima.

Unsure, he said, "What do you want to do?" 

Tsukishima removed his gaze from Kuroo and concentrated on his hands, "I can no longer keep up. I want to break up." 

Silence. 

Tsukishima looked at the screen. 

_My moonshine looks so tired, why haven’t I noticed?_

Despair can be seen on Tsukishima’s pale face. "I'm sorry, Kuroo."

Kuroo tried his best to smile. _If this is what he wants. If this will make him happy._

"Okay."

Line dead. 

* * *

**3**

Just when he was already thinking of his **Forever Love** , Kuroo heard his office telephone ring. It was the office receptionist. 

"Good afternoon, Kuroo-san. You have visitors. They wanted to check first if it's okay for them to go to your office. 

_Always considerate._ Kuroo thought. He's usually in the building's meeting rooms with his team or his boss or some volleyball players or their partners/sponsors. Sometimes the meetings finish on time and sometimes they extend. 

"Yes, please let them in, my meeting with the Adlers actually finished early so I already had some time to settle down." _and read some articles on the internet,_ he wanted to add but didn't.

"Alright, they are on their way." said the receptionist. 

_Right on time._

A few minutes after the call, he heard a knock on his office door. Then, a small boy with jet black hair that is a little bit tamer than his came in running towards him.

"Daddy!" the boy screamed. 

_Ahh, here is my baby._ "How's my boy?" Kuroo said after picking up the boy and settle him into his arms. 

"We visited uncle Kenma! He got some new cool games, he said he can buy me my own set!" his son answered with so much enthusiasm that made him laugh. 

"You are both spoiling him too much, Tetsurou." 

Kuroo stopped laughing and then looked at the person who entered after his son. He felt all giddy again, even if this is probaby the millionth time he saw this person. 

"Kei." 

They both smiled at each other then, Kuroo walked towards his husband to give him a quick kiss on the lips. 

After that, he just stood there, with his son on his arms, and his eyes looking intently at Kei.

 _Yes, after all this time, it's Kei and even after this lifetime it will always be Kei,_ he thought. 

Yes, they really had broken up when Tsukishima was graduating in high school and Kuroo was a second year university student.

A year and a half after that, Tsukishima met Kuroo again in Sendai. Tsukishima was signing his contract with Sendai Frogs while Kuroo was an intern working under the Japan Volleyball Association. 

Kuroo's assigned mentor was handling the Division 2 teams which included Sendai Frogs. Kuroo knew from Akaashi that Tsukishima was playing semi-pro but he didn't ask the details as it would only remind of the good thing he already had but did not value enough that it fell apart. This has caused the meeting to be unexpected for him. 

As for Tsukishima, Hinata subtly gives him updates about Kuroo from the famous Kodzuken. He tried not to care about it that much but he was happy for Kuroo. He knew he gave up but he saw that it was for the better. However, he didn’t expect that his work would connect them again.

"Tsukishima"

"Kuroo-san" 

Despite the unfortunate video call as their last memory of each other and the huge time they spent separately, when their eyes met, there was no trace of negative energy between them. The two of them only felt one thing. 

**Longing.**

Kuroo thought, _Does he hate me for not fighting for it?_

Tsukishima thought, _Does he hate me for giving up on it?_

Both of them thought, _Does he still feel the same?_

Those thoughts only stayed in their heads, never escaping their mouths. No one dared to speak about their break up. Both were too afraid that it would bring back the hurt they felt during that time and would ruin things, the second time. 

Kuroo and Tsukishima reconnected as friends. They can't help but see each other because of the nature of Kuroo's internship and Tsukishima's job as a player of Sendai Frogs. 

It was easy, it's like going back to the place where they were before it all started to collapse. The place they kept on looking for before, suddenly appeared but they both were too scared to cross the line and lose it, again.

Both thought whatever it is, is enough… until it wasn't. 

At this point, their friends could no longer take it. 

Yamaguchi, Yachi, and Hinata, dragging Kageyama, gave Tsukishima an intervention in Sendai. 

Kenma, Akaashi, and Bokuto, at the same time, also gave Kuroo an intervention in Tokyo. 

The two sets of friends gave them the same words, "It will be better now. You grew, you matured, and both of you will be more careful now. Talk about the causes, improve it this time. You will regret it more if you don't try again."

Kuroo immediately called Tsukishima and asked if they could meet. Tsukishima agreed. They met at the coffee shop near the Sendai Frog's gym. 

Kuroo got there early but Tsukishima was already there with his hair slightly wet. _Fresh from practice._

"Tsukki" he said, as if to notify the blonde about his arrival. 

Tsukishima was reading an article on his phone. He lifted his gaze for a few moments to tell Kuroo, "Kuroo-san, I already ordered your disgusting black coffee, it will be served in a few." 

Right after that, his coffee arrived on their table. 

_One sip for confidence,_ he thought. 

Kuroo set the cup aside, "Tsukki, there is something important I want to talk about."

Tsukishima looked at Kuroo, "If this is about your hair, I am sorry. I can't help.. but I can call Hirugami to help you?" 

Kuroo chuckled, "No! This is actually serious!"

He paused and then started, "I want to talk about what happened when we broke up."

Tsukishima stopped what he was doing with his phone, then looked at Kuroo. 

"Okay, what about it?" 

Kuroo took a deep breath, "I'm sorry I let you go. I'm sorry I didn't try hard enough and I'm sorry I was too focused on myself. I forgot to take care of you.. I forgot to be there for you. You were having a hard time back then, and the first time you said you give up, I gave up too."

Kuroo took Tsukishima's hand, "I shouldn't have done that. At first I thought, if that's what you need then it's okay. Now, I realized, you just didn't know what to do back then. You were tired, sad, and.. overwhelmed with everything and you needed me but I wasn't there."

"I'm sorry, I should have handled it better." 

Kuroo was looking down at his hand that's holding Tsukishima's. He felt Tsukishima's other hand, hold his chin for Kuroo to look at him. 

"I'm sorry too. I just gave up. I shouldn't have but.. at that time I thought it was what you need. I wasn't the only one overwhelmed with everything, you were too." 

Tsukishima let out a sigh, "I didn't want to pressure you with the responsibility of a relationship while you were evidently too swamped with other things happening in your life. I want you to do the best you can without worrying about me or about us." 

"Although at first I thought, I can take care of it.. of us.. of you but I can't. I am human too. I needed some fixing myself. As you have said, I was overwhelmed too. I already saw that it has started to disintegrate, and you were tired, I was tired. Even if we tried more, we might just make it worse. At least now we were able to grow, even though it's separately. We have started to build our own identity, we're more stable than before, we have taken care of ourselves and now we can take better care of each other, right?" 

Kuroo froze. _Does this mean?_

_There is chance for me? For us?_

"Kuroo? Am I wrong?" Tsukishima broke his trance. 

In a small voice, Kuroo asked Tsukishima, "Do you still feel the same?"

Tsukishima smiled at Kuroo, "I never stopped. I can't stop. You're like a pest in my heart, whatever I do, I can't remove you." 

Kuroo wasn’t able to suppress his squeal, "Aww, Kei! I'm calling you Kei again! and Moonshine! That is like the sweetest thing you've ever said to me, ever! I'll share it with everyone!" 

As few patrons already started looking at them, Tsukishima tried to stop Kuroo, "Tetsurou! Stop! You're screaming! It's embarrassing." 

Kuroo then realized and lowered his voice, "Sorry, I'm too happy." 

Tsukishima held Kuroo’s face, connected their foreheads and said, "I'm happy too." 

When they both got home, Tsukishima received a notification from his Instagram app. 

He was tagged in a photo. 

It was a selfie taken by Kuroo where Tsukishima was smiling at the camera while Kuroo gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. 

**kuroo_tetsurou** I might be a pest, but I am your pest. 😘 #tsukishimakeiismyboyfriend #yay #loveissweeterthesecondtime #kissesandhugsfromkei #moonshine #loveofmylife #goals 

tagged: tsukishima.k

comments •

 **yamstada** finally! 

**lilgiant** congrats u 2!! @kodzuken look!

 **kodzuken** yay, kuro will stop bothering me now.

 **milkywaygalaxy** at least, dragging me gave good results?

 **ace_bokou** #gogetitbro #gogeittsukki #happy 

**akakei** congratulations, see you both soon.

 **yachitoka** yes! I'll bake you two some cookies! 

**kuroo_tetsurou** thank u guys! i love you my moonshine, my sweetiepie, my hunnybunch, moon to my stars, apple to my eye @tsukishima.k !! 

**tsukishima.k** I hate it here. 

Tsukishima went to his message app and sent a text to his boyfriend. 

**To: Tetsurou**

I hate your hashtags but I love you.

**From: Tetsurou**

Aww, my baby, my love, so sweet!

**To: Tetsurou**

Ok. I take it all back. 

**From: Tetsurou**

Tsukki, so mean!! 

Kuroo felt two hands patting his cheeks, it was his son, Eito, "Daddy?" and then, "Tetsu? Why are you just staring at the door?" he heard Kei said. 

Kuroo then just went to Kei, closed their distance and used his free arm to envelope him in an embrace. "Nothing. I just love you both. You're my forever love, Kei." 

Kei wrapped his arms around his husband's waist and their son's back. "What is this, Tetsu? “Sappy hour”?" 

_Ah. I really love you._

"No. It's “Tetsurou loves Kei forever” hour, which is every hour of every day, of every week, of every year." 

This made Kei and Eito laugh hard.

"That's so lame, Daddy." Eito told Kuroo while playing with his hair.

Surprised with the remark his son made, "Where did you learn that?"

Eito stopped playing with Kuroo's hair and looked at his father, "I didn't learn it, I just know it."

Kuroo broke the embrace and then looked intently at his husband and his son, "Oh my god, I have two Keis now!" 

Kei smirked, "Is he wrong though?" Then, he offered his arms to Eito so he could hold him. 

Kei and Eito were both smiling at Kuroo and both said, "Daddy is lame." 

It might be an insult from both his husband and son nonetheless, Kuroo only felt nothing but warmth. Warmth from all the love the three of them share.

He looked at the two, still laughing at him. 

Right there, Kuroo realized that it was Kei who was able to let him experience all the kinds of love mentioned in the article he read. He thought that he was lucky he was able to experience everything from one person and no longer need to find another. 

He felt so whole with Kei, he was so thankful they tried again.

_Yes, this is the forever that I have always imagined._

_This is my family._

_This is my home_

_This is my reason to live._

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday, Kuroo! 
> 
> Yahoo, I am on [ twitter ](https://twitter.com/tokeiimi) :D


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